InFamous: Afterlife
by ajrunaway
Summary: Four normal college students have their lives turned around once they enter a forbidden part of Seattle, known as The Conduit Zone, in search of their friend, Ken. Once they find him, they are shocked to discover that, not only has their friend been doing this routinely, but that he has a good excuse to be there in the first place: his conduit girlfriend, Mary.
1. Prolouge

_Seattle has always been an encasing city of drug dealers and hookers. Around every corner, there's someone with a secret, and a story to hide. During the day, this was less than visible. It would look like a normal, functioning city, with your businesspeople in suits, and your expensive coated ladies carrying heavy shopping bags to a taxi. But once the stores closed, and everyone was safely tucked into their apartment housing, a new shadow would appear over the city, and the crooks and bludgers that would hide in basements of a day would rise out of their stinky cells and roam the streets, hungry for destruction and chaos._

 _Everyone knew Seattle had hit it's most horrific point. The problem being that everyone was too scared to stand up for themselves. Too scared to go to the police because a gunman had robbed them blind in their own home, or even held them at gunpoint to do unspeakable things. Aside from the crazy storms, and harsh rainfalls, Seattle wasn't getting any better._

 _That wasn't until drug dealers started dying. Murdered, was probably the better word for it. Hung, striked in the chest, ripped apart limbs, cuts to the throat, and their insides ten feet away from their bodies. The dealers were decreasing, one gang at a time, and everyone around Seattle, though fearful of talking publicly about it, were curious to know what was going on behind the strange killings._

 _One person, one curious young girl, eager with a thirst for knowledge, wanted to find out more than anyone. Mary Undergale heard about the killings when her mother was washing up dishes after dinner one night. As she sat at the table, doing her complicated math homework of algebra, her ears perked up at the words 'murdered drug dealers' and 'Seattle' and her eyes instantly glanced to the TV set across the room._

 _Grabbing the remote beside her on the table, she increased the volume on the set and listened carefully._

 _"Reports of a murder case have risen from Downtown Seattle, where a gang of accused drug dealers have been found mutilated in the back alleyways. Police have yet to comment on the situation of the murder, but for what we can tell you, no one is yet a suspect..."_

 _"How terrifying!" Her mother gasped, while wiping a dinner plate._

 _Mary stared, smirking to herself. "How terrifying indeed."_

 _The next day at school, word had quickly travelled fast in the hallways. It seemed that everyone had heard the news of the mysterious murders, and the rumours began to pile up like the dead bodies themselves._

 _"I heard the murderer has a shaggy beard and a terrible lazy eye..."_

 _"My dad told me that the police haven't revealed any leads at all, nor have they made any comment. He's a journalist, he should know..._

 _"Apparently, he choked one of his victims with his own spit."_

 _"Ew! Tiffany! That's disgusting!"_

 _But aside from all the tales that spread out, Mary was only interested in one person's opinion: her boyfriend's, Ken._

 _Since they were kids, they had been best friends, doing everything and anything together. And a year ago, they upgraded that title to couple. Between the two of them, they hardly needed anyone else around. Sure a few acquaintances here and there, but no one was close enough to talk about the kind of stuff you wouldn't talk about win your own mother, like murders._

 _Mary walked into Science Room 3, finding her boyfriend studying hard at a desk, with his back turned to her. A perfect opportunity to sneak up behind him and give him a nice smooch on the cheek, which she did well enough to make him cringe._

 _"Gah!" He cried, wiping the spit from his face._

 _Mary giggled, before seating herself across from her boyfriend._

 _"Morning!" She spoke cheerfully._

 _Ken raised an eyebrow at her. "How come you're so cheery this morning?"_

 _"What?" She pouted. "Can't I be happy to see my boyfriend?"_

 _"Considering you've been looking at the same face for the past ten years, I doubt there's anything to be happy about," Ken spoke._

 _Mary rolled her eyes at his comment._

 _Ken chuckled. "I'm joking, of course. But really, what's with the happy smile?"_

 _Mary smirked. "Have you been hearing the rumours lately?"_

 _"About the five guys that got turned inside out?" Ken questioned. "It's been floating around in my domain."_

 _Mary gasped. "You know what happened?"_

 _"Barley," Ken defended. "But if the police are protecting a case this much, I guess it's got to be too gruesome to report on TV."_

 _Mary sighed._

 _"What did you expect?" Ken asked. "It's not like it's any different to any other murder case."_

But it is different, _Mary thought._ I can feel it _. In fact, the thought stayed with her for weeks on end. Even as more murders began to roll out, becoming less and less informant as the last, and strange men began to appear around the city in uniforms labelled with the letters 'D.U.P', with everyone refusing to give her answers, Mary knew she had to find out for herself._

 _So when a murder was reported three streets away from her home, Mary saw this as her opportunity._

 _"You're crazy!" Ken nearly screamed over the phone._

 _"Relax," Mary said reassuringly. "I just want to see what all the hype is about."_

 _"Have you not been listening to what the police have actually been saying?" Ken asked, with a small hint of anger in his voice. "Whoever is doing this is dangerous, and you should stay home to stay safe!"_

 _"Baby, please, I can look after myself," Mary spoke._

 _Ken sighed heavily on the other end, before eventually saying, "Fine. I can see there's no way of talking you out of this. But if you're going anywhere tonight, you at least have to take me with you!"_

 _"Baby, I would love to," Mary said. "But Mum would get pretty suspicious if you just showed up to our apartment randomly."_

 _"Just leave that to me. I'll be over in ten." And with that, he hung up the phone._

 _"Love you too," Mary scoffed, before throwing the device onto her bed._

 _Nine minutes later, the Ungergale ladies had a knock at their door._

 _"Why Ken, this is a surprise!" Mary heard her mother say from her room. "Mary! Ken is here!"_

 _Mary took a quick, deep breath, before exiting her room and putting on a smile._

 _"Hello!" She pretended to be surprised at her boyfriend's arrival. "What are you doing here?"_

 _After enveloping in a hug, Ken confessed, "Can't I surprise you with a nice visit every once in a while?"_

 _"Oh come on, I'm sure there's a reason you showed up," Mary played, poking his chest._

 _Ken smirked, but admitted, "Well, I was thinking we could go for a nice stroll to the pier. We haven't done that in a while..."_

 _"Ken, do you really think that's such a good idea?" Mary's mother asked, concern in her voice. "With all of these murders happening, you don't think it's a bit dangerous?"_

 _"Oh, don't worry Georgie," Ken smiled. "I feel a lot safer knowing that the D.U.P is floating around the streets, and I'd like to see a murderer go through these!"_

 _He flexed his arm muscle under Georgie's nose while grunting, which made her chuckle like it was a good joke._

 _"Oh, I suppose you're right," she said. "I'm sure the D.U.P are working hard to protect the citizens..."_

 _"Well, in that case, let me just grab my jacket," Mary announced, and headed quickly to her room, where a black jacket was already picked out, along with two small LED flashlights in her left pocket, and her phone in the right pocket. She sighed, feeling the rush of excitement in her veins as she exited her room._

 _"Alright, let's get going," Mary suggested._

 _"Please, be careful Mary," Georgie called to her daughter. "You too Ken!"_

 _"Always am, Mum!" Mary called back, and shut the door behind her._

 _As the two walked towards the elevator, Mary whispered, "Nice acting skills."_

 _"You didn't do too bad yourself, Short Fry," Ken responded, which resulted in Mary playfully punching his arm for making fun for her height._

 _As they stopped in front of the elevator and pushed the button, Ken lifted his girlfriend's chin to plant a soft kiss on her lips._

 _As they parted, he whispered between them," Are you sure you wanna do this?"_

 _Mary thought for a second, before nodding. "I am."_

 _Even though she didn't want to admit it, she was nervous about what they would discover tonight. She forced a smile up at Ken's face as the elevator doors opened._

 _Taking a grip on his hand, they walked in, before pressing the button for the ground floor._

 _3 Months Later_

 _ **BREAKING NEWS**_ _: It's been three months since the defensive unit 'Department of Unified Protection' had its doors forcefully sealed by a bio-terrorist known as 'Deslin Rowe'. But due to this destructive call from the individual, the citizens of, not only Seattle, but also the globe have demanded better protection to the U.S government from the now released bio-terrorists._

 _The Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P) was an organisation ran by the U.S government to properly secure and detain bio-terrorists. It was used as a secure location, heavily guarded to hold the conduits in their natural state, away from civilisation and humanity. As of three months ago, Delsin Rowe, a bio-terrorist, with various supernatural powers, had murdered the leading lady of the program Brooke Augustine, after draining her own conduit powers from her body. He then soon after released the hundreds of bio-terrorists from their home known as Curdan Cay into the world around us._

 _The U.S government has fallen under extreme pressure, as letters, emails, phone calls and faxes, sent directly to the head office, from around the globe, have expressed their distaste and anger from letting Delsin commit such a selfish act. Until now, the world has learnt of the power that comes from sharing our communities with bio-terrorists, and has pressured us into being fearful of the world around us. Until now, the world has demanded a solution._

 _Tonight, we have witnessed that solution first-hand. Here in Seattle, the government has released a statement this morning to all conduits, asking them to meet with the mayor of Seattle to come up with a solution to how bio-terrorists and humans can live together in peace._

 _Reporting live from Downtown Seattle, we have Amber Gale standing by for further news. Amber, what is happening down there at this moment?'_

 _'Unfortunately Heather, I can't reveal that information for the moment, but I can tell you that police officials, government officials, and even members of the C.I.A have surrounded the area, and are asking citizens to stay away from the area, and watch from a safe distance. I can defiantly inform you that everyone in the vicinity of Downtown Seattle has been asked to leave the area over the past three weeks. Shop owners have been forced to leave their stores and relocate to the bigger city, families have been asked to move, jobs have been shifted to different companies in the city, and even the homeless have evacuated the area.'_

 _'But why, Amber? Why is everyone being asked to leave? Why is no one allowed into downtown?'_

 _'I'll be able to disclose that information with you shortly, Heather. I have guards standing behind me right now making sure that no one enters, and the only people I've seen enter the area this afternoon are handfuls of police and about four or five trucks have entered and exited Downtown Seattle...I'm hoping, within a few minutes, I'll be able to tell you all about this -'_

 _'...'_

 _'...'_

 _'...Amber? Are you still there?...Is everything okay?'_

 _'Sorry Heather, but I've just received word that I'm allowed to announce the great news. Operation 'Contain All Bio-Terrorists' has officially been put to the test!'_


	2. 1 - The Conduit Zone

Like any day in Seattle, it rained. Starting heavy, then moving onto a slight drizzle, before coming to a complete stop and leaving nothing but wet puddles and dark clouds above everyone's heads. But no depressing weather could stop the citizens of Seattle from moving about with their daily lives.

Unfortunately, for two men driving down the highway, they had next to no idea that today might be their last. Recently, the two of them had acquired this job. Good pay, great hours, included superannuation, the job description made it look reasonable, and they thought they were lucky to be hired. Even as they sped towards their destination, one man, Anand, displayed to the other the pictures of his kids back from his home in India. He had planned to save half of his pay check every week so that he could buy plane tickets for all three of them, and they would come to Seattle to live with him.

The man he showed the pictures to, Roy, was a simple guy. After quitting his job as a dairy farmer, he ventured to Seattle in search of something different, something that would take him out of the endless days that he spent milking cows. Taking on this job, he rented a new apartment in the city, bought new clothes, gave himself a new haircut. He was ready for a new start to life, and he knew it all began after this one, seemingly simple, delivery.

As the truck Roy drove reached towards the tall fence, topped with barbed wire, he slowed the truck down to greet an officer waiting by the gate.

"Evening sir," Roy tipped his hat in respects, but the officer didn't acknowledge the greeting, and only responded with, "Please state your business, men."

Without removing the smile from his face, Roy leaned across the truck, grabbing the papers from Anand's lap and handing them to the officer.

It only took a few checks of the papers, before the officer stared at them for a second, and handed the papers back, speaking, "Not a problem, men."

Roy continued to smile as two more officers bounded over to the gate in front of them, sliding it open to reveal a long, cracked road in front of them.

"You two, have a nice day," the officer smiled. "And good luck."

Roy's smile depleted as the officer walked away, snickering under his breath. He didn't question the barley audible laughter, even as they drove past the gate and slowly down the road.

"What do you think he meant by that?" Anand asked.

Roy shrugged. "Dunno. Probably just warning us that the bio-terrorist's might try something. They told us that back at the docks, remember?"

Anand didn't respond. He stated ahead, awaiting for the area that had been blocked out by civilisation. He took note of all the empty. Decayed buildings that they passed, hoping that the bio-terrorists wouldn't jump in front of the truck, or anything horrific like that.

"Have you ever seen one?" Anand asked, looking towards his partner. "A bio-terrorist?"

Roy shook his head. "I came here only a few weeks ago, way before the bio-terrorists were locked up."

Anand face turned to look at the road again, feeling more distressed the further they drove away from the city.

"Although, I've heard stories," Roy explained. "I heard that these here bio-terrorists, they can kill you just from looking at them. They got some kind of...gypsy power or something..."

Anand was silent for a few seconds, as the sound of thunder roared above them, before he noted, "I too have heard some creepy things about the bio-terrorists."

A slight drizzle of rain started to coat the front window, and Roy switched the wipers on.

"Like what?" He asked.

Anand swallowed hard, before answering, "I've heard that they can turn your legs into concrete, so that you're unable to move while they torture you."

"Concrete?" Roy confirmed, before switching the wiper blades up a notch. The rain was beginning to fall harder.

"Yes," Anand nodded.

It was silent between the two of them, the only sound being the windshield wipers squeak. Until-

"Bahahahaha!" Roy started laughing, like a roaring lion. It made Anand jump in his seat, and stare shocked at the plump man.

"Concrete," he repeated, following a chuckle. "Concrete, ahahaha!"

Anand sat himself up, trying to calm his nerves after being surprised like that.

"Ah, Anand, you make me laugh," Roy spoke, wiping a tear from his eye. "Oh, looks like we're here."

Both men looked towards, yet another fence around another part of the city. This time, it was an open gate, and an eerily spooky feeling as they drove through.

Roy turned the vehicle around, making the front of the truck face back to the road, as the rear faced the city behind them.

As soon as the truck turned off, both of the men exited the vehicle.

"Do we need to leave it somewhere?" Anand asked, looking around at the suspiciously quiet surroundings.

"Nah, we just gotta leave it here," Roy confirmed. "They must like to help themselves, or something."

He turned to unlock the tailgate of the truck, before he felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning his head around, he found Anand staring into the distance, but pointing towards a building. Roy turned to follow the pointing, and immediately found the reason to why Anand looked so stunned.

Up on a wide suspended platform, with their back turned, someone was spray painting the wall of an old and crusting building.

Roy squinted his eyes, before speaking, "Now that can't be right."

He started to walk towards the person, and Anand loudly whispered to his fellow man, "What are you doing?"

But Roy didn't respond. He just slowly walked towards the person, and then started to shout.

"Hey!" He roared. "What do you think you're doing?"

The person instantly stopped spraying.

"This here's a dangerous part of town!"

The person turned, letting his pale face shine out from underneath his hood, as he looked towards Roy, who stood close enough for him to reach out and grab him by the collar.

"What are you doing?" Roy shouted again. "You tryin' to get yourself killed?"

The man under the hood smiled, showing off his ugly, gunky teeth, before responding quietly, "Are you?"

He then held his hand up, and with a click of his fingers, the entire artwork behind him lit up in neon, shining out the area around his body.

Roy's angry face soon dropped to a fearful look, as he looked upon the words written on the wall behind the bio-terrorist.

' _We are INFAMOUS, and we will continue to be in the AFTERLIFE_ '

Roy swallowed hard, backing away from the display in front of him. As he reversed back to the truck, the bio-terrorist, still smiling, jumped down from his platform, and slowly walked towards Roy.

As Roy finally caught up with Anand, he exclaimed, "We have to get out of here!"

"What about the food?" Anand asked cautiously.

"Forget the food!" Roy growled. "We're about to be eaten by them!"

Roy pointed towards the bio-terrorist that followed him, but when Anand followed his guidance, he noticed, not only one, or two, but four others right behind the previous on.

Roy soon noticed too, after seeing the terrified look on Anand's face. Both men scrambled back to their sides of the truck, eager to leave, and to avoid their close deaths.

But Anand was stopped short before he could reach his door, as a bio-terrorist leapt out in front of him, grinning from ear to ear and showing a hint of evil in his cold grey eyes.

Anand stood frozen, unable to think of what to do next. On instinct, his body retracted. He shook as he took small, trembling steps, and as the bio-terrorist walked towards him, cracking his neck, and then his fingers.

Roy jumped into the front seat, slamming his door and reaching for the keys in his jacket pocket. All the nerves in his body made him shake, even as he pulled out the keys and them dropped them hesitantly onto the floor beneath his feet. He hit the steering wheel out of anger, before trying to reach down and grab the keys. A bump from the his window made him jump, but as he looked out, his face drained of colour and his mouth shook agape.

Anand was being pressed against the window, with blood running from his head and nose. His hands were scratching at the glass, and his voice was only barely squeaking out, "Help...me..."

Then, his head was forced through the window, showering Roy with glass. Roy reacted just in time to shield himself from the glass shatters, but there wasn't enough time to grab ahold of his partner, who was dragged back out into the open again.

In a desperate attempt to rescue Anand, Roy immediately opened his door, ejecting himself from his seat and jumped from the height of the truck.

But his efforts were cut short, for as soon as he hit the ground, a bio terrorist leapt onto his shoulders, wrapping their legs around his neck, and began to squeeze Roy's head with their strong hands.

Roy, shaking and terrified, looked up, into the cold, dead eyes of a man who's only desire was to kill. He heard a croaky laugh, before the man's hands pushed into his skull, giving the desire to smash it with his bare hands. But instead, his hands radiated a different aura, as a blue glow grew from them, and the sounds of clicking and sparking erupted. A single shot through Roy's head, and his brain was fried, ending his life.

While the mayhem of nearly fifteen conduits had surrounded this one truck, none of them had thought to go through the already unlocked tailgate, filled with dehydrated food that was to last them all a few months each. They all just concentrated on murdering the two people that they knew were humans from the outside.

Standing on a small building, only a few feet from the scene, another person, Christy, watched as the chaos unfolded in front of her. She noted of the untouched truck, and immediately took a step back, before leaping over the bio-terrorists and touching the top of the truck. Not a single person before her noticed her presence, even when she stepped down to open the tailgate, and climbed in, removing her backpack off and shoving everything she could hold on sight. When her bag was full, she zipped it up, ready to make a supposed easy escape.

She jumped from the back, watching to avoid any of the murderous bio-terrorists before her. She stealthy made her way around them, as they continued to rip, tear, and (for some) eat the flesh of the persons they killed.

Holding back her urge to vomit, Christy broke through the crowd, ready to start running, ready to get back home before she was spotted.

But as soon as she exited the outer ring of the circle, a hand grabbed her backpack, and pulled her back, making her fall into the arms of an unsuspected person.

"And just where do you think you're going, cutie?" They whispered in her ear, sending the coldest of shivers down her spine.

However, Christy knew what to do, as she pushed forward, using her heel to crush the man's baby toe, and make a break for it.

Unfortunately, for her, she had caused an unwanted scene, and could hear the screams off the man as she ran.

"Get her! Don't let her get away!"

She broke into a faster run, rounding the corner of a building and running down a damp alleyway. As she ran, she tried to look for a way to avoid the mob that was possibly behind her. She spotted a pipe. Rusty and bent, but usable nevertheless. She skid to a stop in front of it, and used all of her strength to start climbing up the pipe.

As she heard the voices of the chaos that followed behind her, she continued to climb, secretly wishing inside her head, _Don't look up, don't look up, don't look up..._

"There she goes!" She heard them cry

 _Crap_ , she thought, and continued to push herself to climb faster. She heard the voices grow loud enough to be underneath her, but she didn't turn to look.

It wasn't until the pipe started shaking, that she finally looked back down, to see someone else climbing up after her.

She gasped, pushing herself to climb faster, climb harder, anything to get away from the creeps that were following her. If only she could just get to the top of the building, she could make a break for it.

The sound of glass smashing to her left, and an arm reaching out to grab her, told her that she wasn't reaching the top of the building at any time soon.

The loud cackle, of what sounded like an old witch, came from the woman who had a tight grip on her arm. Christy looked towards the old hag, screaming to her, "Let go of me!"

The woman gasped, instantly recognising her face.

"It...it's you!" She growled, before shouting to the army beneath them. "It's the Delsin girl!"

"We know, you crazy hag!" the man climbing the pipe cried out. "Why do you think we're after her?"

The old woman cackled quietly, as she tightened her grip Christy's arm, pulling her closer.

"Get off!" She screamed, shaking her arm to render herself free. "I swear, I'll make you pay!"

As she felt another hand on her ankle, she screamed, looking down to find that the man had caught up with her.

"Let me go!" She cried again. "You'll regret it if you don't!"

The man just laughed to himself, as he climbed up her leg.

A tension began to boil inside Christy's chest.

"I'm warning you!" she yelled.

The woman's grip became stronger.

Christy's heart began to race, and her muscles began to tense up.

"Stop it right now!"

She could feel the heat in her body rising, but the man beneath her had yet to figure it out.

The old lady, however, began to loosen her grip, as she started to feel the heat boil on her old skin.

Christy shut her eyes, using her free arm to hold onto the pipe. Her skin started to glow bright pink, and the old lady, noticing this new change, immediately let go and stood back in fear.

As her skin glowed brighter, a few people in the crowd began to notice this, and became quiet. The rest, however, only grew more angry, and more loud, especially the man who was up to her knee in climbing.

Mustering all the energy she had, she let it all boil inside, soar through her veins, group up in her skin cells, and then finally, it was released, breaking the contact with the man who was attached to her leg, and sending her flying straight towards the top of the building in a pink flash.


	3. 2 - Critical Acclaim

In a swift amount of energy, Christy's body soared upwards, leaving a trail of bright pink, orange and red neon waves as she flew. When she had passed the top of the building, she aimed down and landed into the hard concrete roof, breaking a small crack under her feet, and surrounding herself in a cloud of smoke.

She regained her composure, cracking her neck to let go of the tension, and stretching her arms to break free of the sudden nerve shock. She carried herself forward, walking out of the smoke cloud and across roof. As she looked over the edge, she heard the sounds of the enraged persons that were after her. Swiftly turning her head, she noticed that a few were already gripping to the edge of the building, and crawling up, keeping desperate and hungry eyes on her.

Christy growled in frustration at the people, before looking back at her height difference. From her position, she could spot her home. It would be so simple of her to fly there, but the attraction that came from being followed like she was was daunting to say the least. She needed to think of a plan to rid of these people.

She took a few steps back, almost enough to reach for the mob that was after her, but she didn't look back. Instead, she ground up all the courage she had. Pushed her feet to run as fast as they could, before jumping off the building entirely.

In a swift second, she felt a cool breeze, as her body began to fall to the hard road below. A sweet, relaxing sensation of the weight of gravity letting her fall to her possible death. It was moments like falling from rooftops that made Christy feel a little more alive.

And in a second, her body transformed, glowing a neon casing around her skin. The weight of the world and gravity itself no longer existed. When her body was just about to hit the hard pavement underneath her, her neon energy collected itself, allowing her to push forward and fly through a nearby alleyway.

Swiftly moving in and out, and in between buildings, Christy's body energy moved with the directions she gave in her mind. Faster than any normal human being could run, and brighter than the sun (if it ever came out), she didn't do herself any favours when it came to running away. Especially when a trail of smoky neon was left wherever she went.

However, reaching her destination, barely scraping along the ground as she stopped, she knew that the run wasn't over. But she couldn't continue moving along while a bag full of heavy tins was riding on her back. So, lifting up a vent near the ground, she threw the bag down the chute, listening to it slide down before echoing a thud back to her end.

Loudly letting the vent close, she heard the overbearing amount of noise, coming back from the group that wanted so badly to catch her. They were getting closer. Their screams were loud enough to be right next to her.

Without another second passing, she shouted through the vent, "I need a little help up here!"

Hoping that her message had reached the other side, Christy pulled her grey hood over her head, jogging away from the screaming that bounced off wall to wall in her direction. She rounded a corner, speeding up her pace only slightly enough to get away. As she peered over her shoulder, she spotted one individual coming around the corner. His eyes spelt hate, and his face read anger. Then, one by one, more people followed him. Each one wearing a similar look to the others.

Swallowing her pride, Christy broke out into a sprint, turning right to run down another alleyway. She tried with all her might to keep the distance between herself and her hunters far, but even as she ran, she knew eventually she would have to turn around and fight. They wouldn't stop until she was at their hands.

Rounding one last corner, into a dead end alley, Christy started to round up the neon cells that her body had left. Like before, they built up into her skin, encasing her entire body, enough to make her look like a running light globe.

Before she could crash into the wall right in front of her, she used all the strength she had to pulsate the neon waves through her body. And with it she was able to run right up the wall, defying gravity and physics in one swipe.

As she reached the top of the building, she leapt from the edge and slid her feet across the concrete roof. As she regained her balance, the same sounds of chaos that had been following her were growing once again. Christy knew they were starting to use their own powers to make their way up the building.

When one person had made it up, they sparked out lines of electricity, showing off the deadly weapon they had mastered.

Christy rolled up her jumper sleeves, muttering to herself, "If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you will get."

Another bio-terrorist, possessing the power of fire, followed the first one right behind. One more, with the power of shadow manipulation, crept up around Christy, trying to throw a sneak attack in her direction. Conduit by conduit started to surround the poor girl, trying to scare her into giving in. But Christy wasn't afraid. Even as they created a wall of people around her, she didn't back down, nor give up.

Instead, she gripped her fists, letting her neon fire shine bright onto her knuckles, and screamed to the people before her, "Let's go!"

One lady screamed, before charging at Christy with a wave of brick shards. She ducked before the shards hit her face, and sent a blast of hot neon right into the woman's eye, causing her to stumble backwards in pain.

Hearing sparks of electricity, Christy jumped away from certain death, causing her attacker to land face first onto the concrete under his feet. Christy swung back around, sending the heel of her boot into his back, which made him howl in pain, and then proceeded to set the back of his tattered shirt on fire. The man screamed, rolling around like an insane person, while Christy avoided her next attack from a glass manipulator. One kick to the stomach, and a knee to the face sent the person down for the count.

Almost everyone on the rooftop had a turn at taking the girl down, but each time Christy found herself causing more damage to them then they had planned for her. The guy she had set on fire had ran himself off the roof in a panic, after unsuccessfully ridding himself of the burns. The woman who had charged before ended up being knocked unconscious by another conduit when trying to stand up and attack once again. Christy's strength was defeatable, but it was enough to keep the other bio-terrorists at bay.

Another kick to the stomach of another conduit, and they soared down to the roads below. Christy felt victorious, as she watched her enemy fall down, growing smaller and smaller the closer he fell to the ground.

She turned around. With a look of determination, she was ready to continue fighting with the remaining conduits who, evidently, would just not give up.

One man stared from across the roof, wearing an evil smirk like he held a dark secret. Even with more than five other conduits surrounding her, Christy clenched her fists, prepared to send this man soaring from the roof like she had done with her previous foes. As the flames started to grow from her fists, she ran ahead, charging right for the man that stared her down like he was looking for a death wish.

As soon as Christy was no more than a few feet away, the strange man slowly lifted his hand from his side, aiming it right for Christy as she gained her speed and was ready to blow the living organs out of this man's body.

Suddenly, her throat grew tight. The oxygen stopped coming into her body as her throat felt like it was being gripped from the inside. She fell forward in surprise, crashing just centimetres away from the man who still aimed his hand towards her.

Shaking, she held her throat in panic, unable to feel the pressure that was building up inside. Every pipe was being blocked, and all the oxygen she breathed in was refusing to slip out again.

She fell to her side, looking up at the man who was causing her this pain. Without even touching her, he was able to aim his power right to her throat and cause every nerve in her body to panic. Christy's mind came to a quick conclusion on what power this man held to render her helpless at his hands.

Telechanesis.

And Christy's theory was, unfortunately, proven right. The stranger lifted his other hand, aiming it to the same area his first hand pointed to, but created a different effect. Christy felt herself becoming light, and not just in her head. Her body began to levitate from the ground, and it swung around slowly, holding her upright to stare the horrific, smiling man in the face. As her eyes locked onto his, his smile spread, showing his yellow teeth and serious gum disease. His eyes were cold, and evil, like her was ready to end her life.

Christy continued to grip around her throat, trying to unblock her air ways to breathe. She scratches, she gripped at the skin, she tried anything, but the airways were blocked. The man laughed at her attempts, and Christy was frightened. Her attempts were weak against his power. A single tear fell down her cheek, as she felt the moments of her life decreasing as every second passed. She closed her eyes, and waiting for death to come.

Then, the laughing stopped. The choking stopped. Then Christy fell to the floor, right to her knees. Her airways cleared, and the burning sensation of oxygen was the best feeling she had experienced in these moments of fighting.

Taking in deep breaths, she looked up. Her eyes widened in fear. The man who stood before her, the one man who would have been responsible for taking her life in a matter of minutes, fell to the ground in front of her. His eyes were wide, his skin was disgustingly pale, and a large concrete spike was through the temple of his skull.

Christy, shaking and hopeful, looked over the man's body, and at the face of the person responsible for killing her attacker: Delsin.

Weakly, she smiled at him.

And he smiled back, before glancing to his left and firing a punch at an oncoming conduit.

In an instant, Christy remembered there was a fight going on, and used her strength to stand up again.

"Christy!" Delsin shouted. "Get back down! You're not strong enough to fight!"

Christy rolled her eyes, ignoring Delsin's comment, and struggled to stand back to her feet. Two more conduits came from either side of her, growling and screaming in anger. Still feeling weak, Christy knew punches and kicks wouldn't suffice, but something else would.

Building up more power into her hands, her flames sparked from her palms. She aimed a hand at each of her attackers, making sure to point it just right at their faces for maximum damage. As more power grew, the orange neon shone brighter, before beginning to build up into two separate balls right in the middle of her hands.

In two seconds, the balls were fired hitting each conduit in the face and sending them back onto the concrete, knocking them out cold.

Christy sighed in relief, but she knew the fight wasn't over.

Behind her, Delsin used his own ability to match up with the charging conduits. His power of concrete was useful when it came to dealing with large groups. Sending a few spikes through people arms and legs gave them enough of an impression to either leave him alone, or give him more reason to kill them.

One man in particular didn't get the message, and it just so happened to be the one guy that had caused this whole riot.

The man sent electrical sparks in Delsin's direction, but Delsin was too quick to be hit. As electricity was sent through the air, he leapt out of the way, and as he quickly regain led his stance, he sent a couple of concrete spikes right towards the conduits head.

The spikes scraped his skin, and that only made him more mad. The conduit began to build up his energy into his palms, much like Christy was doing with her fire. Delsin took note on this, and sent another wave of spikes in his direction. They pierced into the man's torso, making him take a step back, closer to the edge of the building, but his energy continued to build up in his palms.

In the background, Christy used what she could of her own powers to tackle on the other conduits. From small smoke bombs in the face to blind them, to the neon ropes she used to wrap them around their ankles and cause them to fall, she tried every opportunity to use her powers to her advantage.

But as her head became lightheaded again, she felt herself loose energy faster with every ounce of power she used. She couldn't keep using it forever.

Delsin ran towards the electrifying man, who instantly shot the electric balls into the direction of Delsin's face. Delsin smirked, as he leapt over the balls in one jump, and landed on his feet in front of the conduit, who soon after received a punch right to the face.

Christy quickly made a short neon rope, to which she used to grab a hold of a conduits wrist and brought them forward, enough to force them to the ground, but instead collided their face with Christy's knee.

As Delsin threw another punch, the conduit began to fight back, elbowing him in the stomach, and kicking the back of his legs, causing him to fall to the ground.

Christy send a blast of neon smoke into an attackers face, who coughed and choked on the sudden move. Before he could regain his breathing, Christy punched him square in the face, sending him over the edge of the building.

Delsin ducked out of the way, before another punch could be thrown, but that caused him to become closer to the edge of the building. Turning his head, he spotted the roads below, and the few bodies that had crashed to the ground. His antagonist took no delay in aiming their hands at his throat, trying to choke him as he lay on the ground. Delsin squirmed, trying to break free of the man's grip, and wriggled his hands out to hold onto the top of the conduit's head.

The man before him laughed, like he had just heard the best joke in history, as he continued to try and choke Delsin under his body.

"Whaddya gonna do, Delsin?" The man grinned, watching him turn blue from the amount of oxygen that he lacked. As Delsin struggled, his power began to grow. Soon, himself, and the city, would be rid of Delsin Rowe, the man who had caused so much chaos amongst the conduits of the city. The man could almost hear the cheers in his name. He would be known as a hero.

Until a sharp pain pierced his skull. Painful enough to freeze his entire body, and turn his skin pale white, and his eyes to loose all the life they had inside.

He collapsed on top of Delsin, revealing the sharp spike of concrete that had be struck through his head. Delsin sighed, partly in relief, partly in annoyance, as he pushed the man's dead body off of his own, and stood to his own two feet.

Walking over, from what was almost a massacre, Christy eyed the dead man at Delsin's feet. She stood next to him, sighing herself, but out of happiness that she was alive.

Using his foot, Delsin pushed the body over the edge of the building, and watched as it fell to the ground below.


	4. 3 - Unlike The Others

The body hurled towards the street below, and Delsin, heavy with exhaustion, looked over to Christy, who stared at the same scene.

"You okay?" He asked.

His friend glanced up at him, before she nodded.

"How's your energy?" He quizzed.

Christy looked away from Delsin's face, as she answered, "It's pretty low."

Delsin stood back from the building's edge.

"I figured," he spoke, turning back around and walking away from Christy. "Come on, we'll get back to the apartment. You'll need your rest."

Christy nodded, and turned herself away from the edge, following her friend over to the roof door, which creaked as Delsin forced it open.

Down they walked, down fifteen flights of stairs, not saying a word to each other. The only sounds drifting in the walls were the drips and drops of water leaking from ceiling above, and the echoes of their shoes squeaking along the wet cement. Neither had barely anything to say to each other, but in the territory they were in, it was better to keep quiet.

Once they had reached the bottom of the building, Delsin pushed the door open, slightly ajar to peak out onto the streets. Seeing that nobody was around, he whispered back to Christy, "Alright, let's go."

He opened the door for the both of them to slip out onto the street, right as the rain started to grow heavier. Christy pulled her grey hood over her head, masking her long brown hair, while Delsin quietly shut the door behind them.

He touched her arm as a signal to move along, while he jogged in front of her, looking around the street they crossed, paranoid that they would be spotted again.

As the rain fell heavier, Mary watched as it trickled down the window. Low amounts of thunder could be heard in the distance, even when a storm was practically here. She eyes two drops, racing down the glass on the outside. Inside her mind, she cheered on the smaller one, since she could so well relate to it.

"You keep staring at the rain like that, you're gonna turn into it."

The familiar voice of her roommate, Fetch, caused her to snap out of her daydream, and turn her head away from the window to look at her friend sitting in a busted beanbag across the room.

"It's better than staring at the sun and loosing your eyesight," Mary smirked.

"I guess I could agree with you," Fetch chuckled. "One of the perks of living in Seattle, I guess."

"Yeah, one of the perks of being stuck in Seattle," Mary replied.

Fetch sighed, before answering, "Don't worry kid, I wanna get out of here too."

Mary sighed, but didn't bother in replying to Fetch. She continued to stare out the window, looking across the streets, and the decent view they had of the city outside the Conduit Zone. In a way, she thanked her lucky stars that they were close enough to see the city. Without this view, she might have gone insane.

Fetch stood up from her position, stretching her legs to return the feeling back into them. She walked around the island in the middle of the room, walking into the small kitchen.

"I think I'll go for a snack," she announced, opening the first cabinet she saw. "You want anything?"

Mary turned away from the window, furrowing her eyebrows in Fetch's direction.

"Won't Delsin and Christy be back soon?" She asked.

"Probably," Fetch answered, pulling out a small packet. "Ohh! Dehydrated cookies."

"Eerk," Mary coughed, looking away and back to the window. "I don't know how you can stand that food."

"It's not like you get any different, princess," Fetch announced, tearing the packet open.

The door to the apartment opened slowly, making Fetch and Mary jump in surprise. But when Delsin soon walked into the apartment, with Christy right behind him, they instantly relaxed.

Fetch smiled. "Funny. We were just talking about you."

"Aww, did you miss me?" Delsin asked, shedding a cheeky smile in Fetch's direction.

"Yes, we all missed the mosted wanted conduit in all of Seattle," Mary chuckled, swinging her legs around to sit upright.

Christy smiled, before walking past them all and heading to the hallway at the far end of the apartment. From there, she entered her room and closed the door behind her.

Fetch shot Delsin a look of concern. "Is she okay?"

Delsin nodded. "She's fine. She just...had to use some of her powers as a last resort."

Upon hearing this, Mary jumped down from the window sill she sat on, and walked towards the back of the apartment.

"God, I hope she's alright," Fetch spoke with worry, looking to the packet she left open on the counter. "I can't imagine how drained she must feel."

"Hey," Delsin spoke, above a whisper, lifting up Fetch's chin to make her look to him.

"She's going to be okay. As long as we can keep her, and Mary, out of trouble, nobody will get hurt."

He stepped away, smirking as he spoke, "I mean, come on, they're in good hands."

"Yeah," Fetch replied, turning back to the cookies. "That's what worries me."

Mary slowly pushed the door open, peeking into Christy's room, and spotting her friend laying on her bed, with a dirty pillow over her face.

"Who is it?" She groaned, barely moving.

"Calm down Christy," Mary announced, walking into the room and shutting the door behind her. "It's just me."

She walked over to her friend, pulling out a chair that sat at a study desk next to her bed.

"Bad trip?" She asked, taking a seat.

"Horrific," Christy answered through the pillow.

"Did you at least manage to get some food?" Mary questioned.

"I filled the bag this time," Christy explained. "Though, it wasn't nearly enough to last us the week."

"A small backpack like that would barely suffice one person," Mary agreed. "Let alone four."

Christy threw the pillow off her head, before blowing away a strand of hair that covered her face.

"It's not like I had a choice," she spoke roughly. "If I could handle carrying a duffle bag around, I would."

"Wouldn't exactly look the part," Mary joked.

"And a backpack would?" Christy asked, facing her friend with a serious look.

Mary's smile dropped, and she looked to the ground under her friends bed. So dusty and dirty.

"I'm sorry," Christy sighed. "I'm just tired, that's all."

"Just tired?" Mary asked, peering up at her friend.

"And maybe a little disappointed in myself," Christy confessed.

Mary sighed, leaning forward in the chair. "Christy, you can't blame yourself. It's not your fault you got stuck in the Conduit Zone."

"It's not that," Christy spoke, sitting up and crossing her legs.

"Then, what is it?" Mary urged.

Christy sighed in frustration, looking down at her hands, at her little, black, fingerless gloves.

"It's that ever since I became a conduit, ever since Delsin and Fetch..." She paused, swallowing the hurt that was brewing in her throat. "...changed me, I feel like I'm indebted to them."

She looked up at Mary, who sat wide-eyed and intently listening.

"They gave me this place to live, they let me go out whenever I want, they share their food with me...and I can't even get something for them without dragging a whole bunch of conduits to our hideout!"

She banged her fist onto the table next to her bed, frightening Mary a little.

She looked away from her friend, and out the window that sat next to her bed. It was such a gorgeous view of the city, even with the rain that clouded it almost everyday.

"Christy," Mary started, trying to get the girls attention. "Honestly, it isn't your fault. None of this is your fault. Delsin, and Fetch, they do this for you because they care about you. They don't want to see you get hurt."

"He shouldn't have to come running to me whenever I get into trouble," Christy spoke, leaning her head against the window frame. "Like every other conduit, I should be able to take care of myself."

"But you're not like-"

"I know!" Christy spoke harshly. "I'm not like all the others, I know, I know, please, don't remind me."

She sighed, peering over at her friends reflection in the window.

"I just want to be able to show them I can do it alone," Christy confessed. "That's why I came here in the first place, to make it on my own."

Mary stared at her friend with hurtful eyes. She hated seeing her like this, all broken, with barely any life left. She wanted to help in the best way she knew how.

"You know," she spoke, hoping to gain her friends attention. "We could always go back, and see if there's any food left for us to scavenge."

Christy looked to Mary, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Delsin and Fetch would never allow for that to happen," she informed.

"So, we just don't tell them," Mary explained. "We'll just say we're going on an adventure, like we always do."

"Yeah, except the difference between those times and now is that we'd be lying to them," Christy spoke with caution.

"Christy, they're not our parents," Mary half-smiled. "They can't control us on where we go. It'll just ease the tension a little if we don't tell them, that's all."

Christy sighed, thinking over the possibility. She turned her head back to look out the window. The rain was becoming lighter.

"Well," Christy began, scratching the back of her head. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it out."

She then turned to face Mary again.

"But my energy is low enough as it is. What if we run into trouble?"

Mary's face screwed up, before it lit up with an idea.

"I'll be right back," she announced, standing up from her seat and heading towards the door.

Once Mary had left the room, Christy turned back to the window to stare back out. By now, the rain had stopped, and a light mist was covering the city, but she still enjoyed the view. It gave her the opportunity to relax until her friend came back.

When she heard her door open again, she turned back around to find Mary back in the rock.

"Don't tell Delsin or Fetch," she explained. "But here."

She chucked an object across the room, right into Christy's palms. As she looked down at it, she noticed that it was a chocolate energy bar.

Her eyes widened with surprise. "Mary, how did you-"

"Uh-uh-uh," Mary smirked. "Don't ask where I got it from, it's not important. Just eat up, okay? I'm going to get a few things for our trip and we'll head out soon."

She turned on her heel and closed the door behind her, leaving Christy in the room alone, once again.

Without a second to waste, she tore the packaging open, taking a bite out of the sweet sugary goodness that she had missed for so long.


End file.
